Hortense?

[Moopsy]

Hello,

I am French and dh is English. Dd is called Josephine and we are expecting another little girl.

Being French, I aboslutely LOVE the name Hortense (pronounced "hor-tawns"), and only get compliments from French people on the name and how graceful, feminine and elegant it is and what a beautiful choice it is for our new arrival. In France, this was the name of the adopted daughter of Napoleon who was very beautiful and kind, and Hortense Mancini another woman famous for her beauty and intelligence. It is a very classic name and quite popular back home.

However whenever I mention it to english speakers they look simply horrified.

So obviously some sort of cultural shock here...

As we will be living mostly in English speaking countries I don't want the little one to be bullied but I just don't quite understand where the issue is... I spot the word game with wh*re, which doesn't disturb me too much as kids will always find something. But what about the name itself? Why do I get such bad reactions from people?

Thanks for your help.

I like it. I know a German one, pronounced Hor-ten-seh. I guess it might be pronounced Hor-tense in English?

I like it too. Very pretty.

My problem with it is the Hor at the beginning I'm afraid.

I thought it was a boys name when I fist saw your post! But when you explain the history behind it it makes me war to it......I suppose most people will not have heard it before so it may be a name that people need to hear a few times before getting used to it!

Warm to it

Sounds a bit too much like horton for me. It sounds very masculine also. Not a fan.

You get bad reactions because people seem to expect "normal" names and anyting remotely different is odd (narrow minded lot aren't we?). My Dd's name is a bti marmite but obviously we love it and th raisedeyebrows do't bother me.
If it means a lot to you, use it. It's nice to have different types of names and people will get used to it quickly. Once people know she is half French they might even be able to pronounce it vaguely correctly. Plus she might grow up in English speaking countries, but who knows where she'll be when she's grown up.
I think it sounds glamorous and goes well with Josephine.

Reminds me of a horsey type girl with a big nose and glasses... Sorry you did ask! Plus no one will pronounce it the French way so it will not sound glamourous IMO.

Sorry, my DD has an old fashioned name too, and French, but I think because it's more commonly used here and the anglicised version sounds nice it wont be such a big deal, I love Josephine BTW!

Sounds like a cross between horse and tense.

It doesn't sound at all graceful,feminine or elegant too my ears.Quite the opposite. It has a very ugly,harsh sound. It also makes me think of a hippo for some reason. Nothing to do with it being 'different'.Well at least not for me.

Josephine is beautiful though.

In english it is pronounced Hor-ten-seh, and no-one will say it the french way.

Don't like it.

Because it starts with 'hor' = whore. Surely, if you've spotted that, you must understand? Just not going to work, however pretty it sounds with its French pronunciation. First it'll be horse when they're really small, then tense, then whore. Honestly, I totally understand the French side, but unless you're going to be living in France / francophone countries, I really think you might have to let that one go.

I don't think you should do this to a child growing up in English speaking countries. She will reproach you for about 16 years and then promptly change it as soon as she's old enough.

I'd have said it was pronounces Hor (as in hornet) - tense (as in past tense) in English.

I think it sounds rather frumpy I'm afraid - I'd put it in the same category as names like Gertrude or Bernice or Hilda.

Reminds me of a character from the book Small Island.

Honestly, I would never have associated the name Hortense with the word "whore". But I still think it's an awful name in English, even though it reminds me of my hero Nigel Molesworth, "the goriller of 3B", who has an imaginary French girlfriend called Hortense.
I think it would be very, very unkind to call your daughter Hortense if she will spend any time in an Anglophone setting.

Association's southern USA for me. Possibly living in New Orleans and definitely a Miss. It's not the most pleasant name in English.

Isn't Hortense one of your pupils,Agatha?

I love it.

Whore - tense. Tense = stressed, uptight.
It sounds quite harsh in English. Not pretty at all.

I suppose it's a bit like Putain - stressé

I love it, actually,

Not thinking 'whore' here.

I'm wondering if you're getting funny looks because of a cartoon character called Hortense... think she was a horse or a cow - foggy memory here.

It just doesn't sound nice to English ears. It is clunky, ugly and frumpy. Worse than Ethel. It's like taking old lady chic to its absolute extreme and I love old lady names.

It's a no from me.

I don't think it sounds pretty. It's also an unfortunate character in Matilda, which is always the first thing I think of when I hear it.

I think of it as a lovely French name - the H is not pronounced, it would be Or-tonse. Surely once you'd corrected people the first time it'd be fine. Sounds so lovely with Josephine and you ARE French so insisting on a French pronunciation obviously perfectly acceptable!

The OP herself says "pronounced "hor-tawns"